


Fly Home, Little Bird

by Arvanion



Series: Commissioned Work [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Canon, Family, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Paralogue 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 13:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13482606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arvanion/pseuds/Arvanion
Summary: In a Valmese village, Lucina hears a rumor that could reunite her with Cynthia--a missing sister that her parents didn't even realize existed.(Commissioned by CrispyTP.)





	Fly Home, Little Bird

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for [CrispyTP](https://crispytp.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, who provided me with an excellent prompt to work off of!

“I don’t like this, Chrom. Not one bit.”

“Nerves getting to you, Sumia?” Chrom chuckled, but his wife seemed considerably less amused.

“I don’t see what’s funny. The looks these villagers are giving you have me worried.”

Behind them, Lucina spoke up. “Mother is right. There is something strange going on, and it is making me uneasy as well.”

“Make that three of us.” Robin raked a hand through his pale hair. “The people here clearly don’t trust us.”

Ahead of them, a young woman saw them coming through a window and hurriedly pulled the shutters closed. Robin grimaced. “The question is… why?”

An unexpected burst of noise interrupted their thoughts--squeals of laughter as a boy and a girl, caught up in some game of make-believe, chased each other into the street.

Robin stepped deftly to one side as they hurtled past, but Chrom was not as quick. One of the kids collided with his leg and bounced back to fall on his rump.

“Whoa there… be careful!”

Though Chrom had doubtless meant to be reassuring, the combination of his imposing height and deep voice had precisely the opposite effect. The little boy stared in shock for a moment before bursting into tears.

“Oh, no… please don’t cry!” Lucina knelt down next to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s not mad at you, really, he just wants to make sure you don’t get hurt…”

The child’s crying gradually slowed, and (after one last hiccup) stopped. He wiped at his eyes and blinked at Lucina, who smiled encouragingly.

“Feeling better now?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Just try to watch where you’re going, okay?”

Lucina held out her hand to help the boy to his feet. As he brushed himself off, he looked past her at her companions.

“Hey, aren’t you guys the ones who’ve been robbing everyone--!”

“Micha!” The girl, who had been silent up until now, rushed forward to shush him. She laughed nervously. “Don’t mind my little brother, good travelers, he’s got a big mouth...”

“But it _is_ them, isn’t it?” Micha said stubbornly. He pointed. “You’re Chrom, right? Their leader?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“And he’s got the blue-haired girl with him, too…”

“ _Hush_ , Micha!”

“But sis…”

Robin held up a hand. “Slow down, please. We’re not sure what exactly is going on here… do you think you could answer a few questions for us?”

The girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Ask, then.”

“First, could you tell us your name? It’ll make it easier to talk.”

“I’m Lila.”

“Nice to meet you, Lila. I’m Robin, and this is Lucina and Sumia. Apparently you know Chrom already, though I’m not sure how…”

“Well, you remembered my name before you remembered yours,” said Chrom, amused. Robin ignored him.

“What did your brother mean by ‘the ones who’ve been robbing everyone’? Are there brigands in the area?”

“If there are,” Lucina chimed in, “you can ask us for help. It’s what we do.”

Lila looked between Robin and Lucina, confusion flitting across her face. “So you really aren’t… them.”

“Them?”

“The bandits. Their leader is named Chrom, too… or at least, that’s what he says.”

“That’s ridiculous!” said Sumia. “Chrom would never do anything like that!”

“No, he wouldn’t, but the people around here don’t know that.” Robin scratched at his cheek with one finger. “My guess is that someone’s trying to take advantage of his reputation…”

“What about the other person he mentioned?” said Lucina. “The blue-haired girl?”

“Yeah, her hair’s just like yours,” said Micha. “‘Cept she rides a flying horse--”

“A pegasus, Micha. It’s called a pegasus.”

Lucina took a deep breath. “It’s her. It must be…”

Robin gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean, Lucina?”

“It’s Cynthia. My younger sister.”

“Younger sister?” said Sumia.

“ _Another_ daughter?” said Chrom, at the same moment.

The pair looked at each other and blushed. Robin grinned slyly.

“Are you really that surprised?”

“W-well, I hadn’t really, um, considered…” Sumia stammered.

“That’s beside the point right now!” The uncharacteristic sharpness in Lucina’s voice made the others look at her in surprise.

Robin rubbed at the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “Sorry for getting sidetracked… you’re right, Lucina. Right now, any questions of where Cynthia came from are secondary--what matters most is that we know who she’s with right now, and we need to find her as soon as possible.”

Chrom nodded. “Right. In that case, we should--”

“ _You_ should stay here.” Lucina interrupted her father. “The bandit was pretending to be you, and we want to avoid confusion.”

Sumia frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“I think what she means is that while we’re dealing with the fake Chrom, the real Chrom should be back here, so that way once we’ve apprehended the fake Chrom, we can bring him back to where the real Chrom is and prove that the real Chrom and the fake Chrom are, in fact, different Chroms.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at Robin.

“Is that what you meant, Lucina?”

“...I think so.”

Chrom sighed. “If both of you think it’s for the best, I’ll defer to your judgment. Just… promise me you’ll bring her back safe, all right?”

The tactician responded with a cheeky salute. “Remember who you’re talking to?”

\- - -

With a small detachment from the Shepherds, Robin and Lucina made their way through the town’s north gate, towards where the bandits were said to make camp. Panne scouted ahead, using all of her skill as a tracker to search for signs of their passage.

Perhaps half an hour after they left the town, the taguel emerged from the trees, looking grim. “I found them, but I was careless, and they spotted me. They will know we are coming.”

“We were bound to come into conflict with them sooner or later,” said Robin. “Now, we will simply have to move more quickly.”

The Shepherds increased their marching pace, following the path deeper into the woods. The further they traveled, the more signs of the bandits they saw: abandoned firepits, ramshackle lookout posts, and crude trail markers.

“They certainly left in a hurry,” observed Robin.

“Do you think we’ll be able to catch them?”

“Without a doubt.” The tactician’s calm confidence helped to dispel some of Lucina’s anxiety. “They don’t have the discipline to hold together through a forced march. We’ll find them.”

As they emerged into a clearing, there was a loud whoosh from overhead. Moments later, a javelin thudded point-first into the ground before them, and a girl’s strident voice rang out above them like a clarion call.

“Halt, impostors! I shall not allow you to advance any further!”

Several of the Shepherds reached for bows and tomes as the pegasus circled around for another pass. Robin hurriedly waved at them to stand down.

“Hold your fire!” He glanced at Lucina. “Is that…?”

“No doubt about it.”

“Ha- _ha_ !” The pegasus swooped down to land in front of them. Its rider, a slim girl with blue hair bound up in pigtails, pulled her lance free from the ground with a flourish and brandished it at the Shepherds. “Now you see the futility of your cause, for none can stand against the great-- _oh my gods, LUCINA?!?_ ”

“Um… hello, Cynthia. It’s been a while…”

“I’ll say! I haven’t seen you in forever! Well, in a long time, anyway. Where have you been?”

“I was--”

Cynthia continued talking without pause. “Because I found Father, and I’ve been looking out for him, only he was acting weird, so I was hoping that you’d show up and help me find out what was going on--”

“Cynthia, slow down!” Despite the seriousness of the situation, Lucina seemed almost amused.

“Sorry, Luci. What were you going to say?”

“That man you’ve been following isn’t Father.”

Cynthia blinked in confusion. “He’s not?”

“No, Cynthia. He lied to you.”

There was a long moment of silence. At last, Cynthia spoke up indignantly.

“That… that _jerk_! I’m gonna kick his mean, lying butt!”

She dug her heels into her pegasus’s flanks and was airborne moments later, holding her lance above her head. “Follow me, everyone! Let’s get him!”

After circling once more above the clearing, she flew out of sight. Robin, smiling faintly, looked to Lucina.

“Has she always been like this?”

“Pretty much.”

“I suppose that we should hurry up and follow her, then. We don’t want her to get hurt.”

Lucina nodded and loosened Falchion in its sheath. “Let’s go!”

\- - -

An hour later, the operation against the bandits was all but finished. A few of the Shepherds’ scouts chased down the stragglers while Robin and Lucina regrouped with Cynthia and the main force.

“You can certainly hold your own in a fight,” said Robin, brushing dust from his coat. “Did Sumia--I mean, did your mother teach you that?”

“Yep! I’ve practiced her lance techniques every day since she taught them to me, though I still mess up my footwork sometimes…”

“That just means you’re not used to fighting with your feet on the ground,” said Lucina.

“True… I guess training and fighting are different things, huh?” Cynthia grinned. “Still, I’m not gonna give up until I’m the best knight I can be!”

“So, Cynthia, now that the bandit problem has been taken care of, shall we head back to town? I’m sure that your parents are eager to see you again.”

At the mention of her parents, Cynthia’s ebullience faded. “I, um…”

Lucina looked at her sister, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s just that… well, I hardly have any memories of our father. I mean, I didn’t even remember what he looked like!” Cynthia stared at the ground. “What if he’s disappointed in me because I let myself get fooled? Or what if, when I’m walking up to say hello to him, I trip and fall and drop my lance and it stabs him in the foot--”

“Or maybe a sinkhole will open under the village and all of us will fall in,” said Robin.

Cynthia groaned. “Oh no, I hadn’t even thought of that…”

Lucina gave Robin a reproving look. “Really?”

“I realize now that my attempt at humor was ill-considered,” Robin admitted, looking guilty.

Lucina put a hand on her sister’s shoulder and smiled encouragingly. “I promise, Father won’t hold any of that against you. He’ll just be glad that you’re safe. And he’ll want to make up for lost time with you, just like he did with me.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Cynthia took a deep breath, slapped the sides of her face with both palms, and then clenched her fists in determination. “Okay, I’m ready!”

\- - -

Sumia looked up as the door opened and Chrom walked in. “What is it? Have you heard from Robin and Lucina?”

“I have. They’re making their way back into town, and should be here in a few minutes.”

“Were any of them hurt?”

Chrom shook his head as he sat down alongside Sumia. “Thankfully, no.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Sumia paused for a moment. “What about… um, our other daughter?”

“Cynthia is with them, too.” Chrom rubbed at the back of his neck. “Though I have to admit, I’m a bit nervous about meeting her…”

“So am I.” Sumia drummed her fingers on the edge of the table. “I mean, I’m excited, too, but…”

“I know what you mean. I’ve always worried about not being a good enough father to Lucina. I don’t want to let _two_ daughters down…”

Sumia put a hand on her husband’s arm. “You haven’t let me or Lucina down, my love. You won’t disappoint Cynthia, either.”

“I certainly hope not.”

There was a knock at the door, which opened before either of them could get up to answer it. Robin stepped inside, raising a hand in greeting.

“Hey, you two. Miss me, or did you hardly even notice I was gone?”

Chrom rolled his eyes. “Your mission must have been a rousing success if you’re already making jokes about it.”

“Indeed it was. Though... “ Robin looked back over his shoulder. “Hey, what’s taking you two so long?”

There was a brief commotion just outside the door, and Sumia managed to catch a few words.

“--go on--”

“--but I--”

“--don’t worry--”

“--I’m going, just don’t… ah!”

There was a loud thud as Cynthia’s boots caught on the threshold, sending her careening forward to land, in a clatter of armor, facedown on the floor. Lucina stepped inside a second later, looking worried.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rush you… are you okay?”

Cynthia clambered to her feet, laughing nervously. “I’m fine… just not the kind of grand entrance I’d imagined… having…”

She trailed off as she met Sumia’s eyes. Sumia could see the look of recognition on Cynthia’s face as she saw her mother for the first time in years.

“...Hi.” Cynthia swallowed, suddenly tongue-tied. “Um, yeah, I guess you don’t really know who I am. My name is--”

“Cynthia.” That was Chrom’s voice, warm and affectionate as he stepped forward. “Our daughter.”

“H-how did you--wait. Right, it’s the hair, isn’t it?”

The prince laughed quietly. “Well, that _is_ part of it. But the real giveaway is your eyes. That beautiful, kind look in them… it’s just like your mother.”

Sumia blushed, but the attention of the room remained fixed on Cynthia, whose eyes had slowly begun to fill with tears.

Chrom spoke up in a gentle voice. “Cynthia, are you…”

“ _Father! Mother!_ ” Cynthia practically bawled out the words as she rushed forward with her arms wide. Sumia squeaked in surprise as she and Chrom were pulled into a crushing hug, one in each of Cynthia’s arms.

“That’s it, Cynthia,” said Chrom as she sobbed into his shoulder. “Let it out.”

“I… I was so… lonely…”

Sumia stroked her daughter’s hair reassuringly. “We’re here now. We’re together.”

“We missed you so much…” Cynthia hiccuped, trying and failing to slow her breathing. “We barely managed to stay alive, even if you…”

“Shhhh.” Lucina stepped up to join the hug, wrapping her arms around Cynthia from behind. “It’s going to be okay, Cynthia. We’re going to make sure it’s okay.”

“We’re a family,” said Chrom, softly but firmly. “I won’t let anything tear us apart again… I promise.”

He hugged his wife and daughters tightly, holding back tears of his own. The road they had traveled to get here had been a hard one, and the future was more daunting still, but they were alive, and together.

Cynthia was home. For now, that was enough.


End file.
